Catching Fireflies by Sherryl Woods

flee.
    It wasn’t that difficult to pinpoint the problem. Annabelle Litchfield, Trish Peterson and two other girls from school were heading in Misty’s direction. Laura watched as Katie Townsend stood her ground, looking them in the eye and all but daring them to come closer.
    Laura was on her feet at once. She forced herself to stroll casually in their direction, ready to intervene if there was so much as a hint of confrontation.
    “Hey, slut, how come you’re not shacked up with some boy today?” Annabelle called out loudly, clearly intending her remark to be overheard. “Have they all figured out just how lousy you are in bed?”
    Laura froze in place for an instant at the ugliness of the taunt. She’d heard way too many comments along that line years ago when word of her pregnancy spread through her school. Suddenly she was that scared, humiliated, seventeen-year-old again, and she knew with every fiber of her being the shame and fear and fury that Misty had to be feeling.
    Without giving it a moment’s thought, she walked into the middle of the group, turned on Annabelle and leveled a look into her eyes meant to put the fear of God into the girl.
    “Enough,” she said quietly. “I suggest you girls leave right now.”
    Trish latched onto Annabelle’s arm. “She’s right. We should go.”
    The others waited to see what Annabelle would do. Her face was flushed, and her eyes sparked with anger, but she managed a careless shrug. “Who wants to waste the day at a dumb fall festival anyway?”
    Once Laura was sure they were gone, she turned back toward where she’d last seen Katie and Misty, but they’d vanished, as well.
    So, she thought, now she knew. For reasons she didn’t understand—and wasn’t sure she had to—Annabelle Litchfield was bullying Misty. What she didn’t know was whether what she’d seen was the worst of it or only the tip of the iceberg.
    * * *
    J.C. had spotted Laura talking to a group of girls, her expression intent. As soon as the girls had walked away, he approached her. Her expression alarmed him.
    “What the hell just happened?” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Laura, you’re shaking.”
    “I am about as furious as I’ve ever been in my life,” she told him.
    “Let’s go sit down and get you something to eat. You can tell me.”
    “I have things I should be doing,” she protested.
    “After you’ve eaten and we’ve talked,” he said with just as much determination. “Doctor’s orders.”
    She managed a weak smile at that. “I’m a little old to be getting advice from a pediatrician.”
    “That’s my specialty, not the only medicine I know,” he countered patiently, already steering her toward the food booths. “What’s it going to be? Hot dog? Corn dog? Hamburger?”
    “I really don’t think I could eat right now,” she argued.
    “Ice cream,” he said decisively. “Nobody turns down a chocolate-vanilla swirl cone. Sit, and I’ll get you one.”
    He came back with ice cream, corn dogs and fries, plus two diet sodas. She looked at the food and laughed.
    “Your patients must love your food guidelines.”
    “Comfort food,” he said. “I just barely managed to turn down the fried-mac-and-cheese balls.”
    “Thank heaven for small favors.” She wiggled her fingers and took the ice cream. “It’ll melt if I don’t eat it first.”
    He watched with pleasure as she devoured the cone, then after a thoughtful look at the rest of the selections, reached for the corn dog.
    “Are the fries still hot?” she asked as she took her first bite of the corn dog.
    He pushed them in her direction. “See for yourself.”
    Only when she’d eaten half the corn dog and most of the fries did he look her in the eye and say, “Now, tell me what happened back there.”
    The light in her eyes immediately died. J.C. almost regretted forcing her to talk about it, but he had a strong suspicion she needed to share it with somebody. He happened to be